Police responding to shooting at Panama City apartments

Published: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 07:58 PM.

PANAMA CITY — Police are searching for at least one suspect in a shooting Wednesday afternoon that left two men wounded.

Police were called to the Macedonia Garden Apartments around 4 p.m. when shots rang out in a busy courtyard. Two men were hit and transported to the hospital with what Panama City Police Chief Scott Ervin said did not appear to be life threatening injuries.

Both men were shot below the waist, Ervin said, and it appeared neither lived in the apartment complex. Police did not release the names of the victims.

It’s not clear how many guns or shots were fired, but Ervin described the gunfire as an “exchange.”

Neighbors gathered in breezeways to watch as investigators taped off a large portion of the property and appeared to be marking shell casings in a courtyard between the D and F buildings. Detectives knocked on doors to locate anyone who might have witnessed the shooting.

One man sat on the steps in handcuffs a few feet from another man who had been shot. He appeared to have been hit in the upper leg or buttocks as paramedics wheeled him to an ambulance on a stretcher. The man in handcuffs was not a suspect in the shooting and had been arrested on an unrelated charge, Ervin said.

Police were still investigating a motive for the shooting, but Ervin said there had been a confrontation between the two men who were shot and at least one other man. Ervin said he didn’t know the type of gun or the number of shots fired when he briefed reporters less than an hour after the shooting.

PANAMA CITY — Police are searching for at least one suspect in a shooting Wednesday afternoon that left two men wounded.

Police were called to the Macedonia Garden Apartments around 4 p.m. when shots rang out in a busy courtyard. Two men were hit and transported to the hospital with what Panama City Police Chief Scott Ervin said did not appear to be life threatening injuries.

Both men were shot below the waist, Ervin said, and it appeared neither lived in the apartment complex. Police did not release the names of the victims.

It’s not clear how many guns or shots were fired, but Ervin described the gunfire as an “exchange.”

Neighbors gathered in breezeways to watch as investigators taped off a large portion of the property and appeared to be marking shell casings in a courtyard between the D and F buildings. Detectives knocked on doors to locate anyone who might have witnessed the shooting.

One man sat on the steps in handcuffs a few feet from another man who had been shot. He appeared to have been hit in the upper leg or buttocks as paramedics wheeled him to an ambulance on a stretcher. The man in handcuffs was not a suspect in the shooting and had been arrested on an unrelated charge, Ervin said.

Police were still investigating a motive for the shooting, but Ervin said there had been a confrontation between the two men who were shot and at least one other man. Ervin said he didn’t know the type of gun or the number of shots fired when he briefed reporters less than an hour after the shooting.

“It’s going to take some time, especially in an outdoor environment, to … canvas the area,” Ervin said.

Police will release more information when it becomes available, Ervin said.

An earlier version of this story is posted below:

PANAMA CITY — Authorities are responding to an apparent shooting at the Macedonia Garden Apartments in Panama City.

There are two gunshot victims, but the injuries do not appear life-threatening.

Some streets in the area are being blocked off.

A News Herald Writer and photographer are en route to the scene. Check back for details.